Katara, who edged out another former MP Prabha Taviyad in the race for the ticket, will take on Union minister and BJP candidate Jashwantsinh Bhabhor, who is eyeing a second straight win from the seat.
The Congress party Thursday named former BJP MP Babu Katara as its candidate from Dahod ST seat. The announcement came just hours before the deadline to file nominations for the April 23 elections ended.
Katara, who edged out another former MP Prabha Taviyad in the race for the ticket, will take on Union minister and BJP candidate Jashwantsinh Bhabhor, who is eyeing a second straight win from the seat.
The Congress nominee has had a chequered past. He had won from Dahod, a traditional Congress stronghold in 1999 and 2004 elections on the BJP ticket.
His political fortune nosedived when he was arrested in a human trafficking case in 2007.
He was soon after expelled from BJP for defying the party’s whip in the parliament, and was subsequently expelled from the Lok Sabha in 2008.
Katara, who was sidelined since then, was suspended from BJP in December 2017 after his son Bhavesh joined Congress and successfully contested the assembly elections from Jhalod seat.
Later, Katara also joined the party.
Both Katara and his son Bhavesh are accused in 2002 riot cases.
The Congress also formally announced Sher Khan Pathan as its candidate from Bharuch seat on Thursday morning.
Pathan is president of the party’s youth wing in Bharuch.
The seat will see a triangular contest between Pathan, six-term MP and BJP candidate Mansukh Vasava, and MLA Chhotu Vasava of Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP).
The party also nominated Kantilal Patel for the Unjha assembly by-election. He will face-off against former Congress MLA and BJP candidate Asha Patel.
It was Asha Patel’s resignation that had necessitated the by-poll. Three other assembly seats, viz. Dhrangadhra, Jamnagar Rural, and Manavadar are also slated to go to polls on April 23, along with the 26 Lok Sabha seats.
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